Ocean Drive Art Deco District

South Beach's oceanfront strip of pastel Art Deco hotels, neon signs and palm trees.

This district holds the largest collection of Art Deco buildings in the world. The hotels along Ocean Drive, between 5th and 15th Streets, face the ocean and a long strip of park and beach. They are painted in soft pastel colours, lit by neon signs at night, and shaded by palm trees. Together they make one of the most recognisable beachfront views in the United States.

What is Art Deco?

Art Deco is a design style from the early 20th century with smooth curves, bold shapes and a love of modern machines. In Miami Beach it mixes with styles called Streamline, Tropical and Med-deco. Most of these buildings were built between the Great Depression and the early 1940s, and their designers wanted them to feel hopeful and futuristic, like the world's fairs of the 1930s.

Why were so many built here?

In 1925 the real-estate market in Miami fell, and in 1926 the Great Miami Hurricane left about 25,000 people homeless. Builders then rebuilt Miami Beach in the new Art Deco styles. Before that, most buildings in the area were Mediterranean Revival, and many of those still stand in the district too. The pastel colours, neon signs and palm trees together are what make the strip look so cheerful, and they remain a symbol of the neighbourhood.

On the globe

The model shows the oceanfront strip of pastel Art Deco hotels, neon signs and palm trees. Look for the bright colours and the row of low hotels.